SOCOM 4: A Better Experience For The Hardcore Fans

Despite all the MAG updates showered in from Zipper Interactive, the team behind the seal team objective based SOCOM 4, is looking to shake things up with their upcoming shooter while keeping the hardcore SOCOM fans right at home with what they know and love about the series.

On Zipline podcast episode #26, Zipper Interactive game director Seth Luisi took several questions from gamers wanting the latest intel for the upcoming shooter and here are just a few of the highlighted questions with answers from Game Director Seth Luisi;

How Interactive are the maps and will there be areas we can breach, lights to shoots, anything along those lines?

We’re mainly focusing on damage and many elements to the maps. There’s a lot of interactivity with objects that get shot, damage being taken by the environment, destructible cover, things along those lines.

Is it possible to play SOCOM 4 without using the new cover system?

It’s definitely possible to play the game without using the cover system, many people here (Zipper Studios) play without using the cover system. If you don’t want to use the cover system you don’t have to use it. The cover system is useful under certain scenarios, I find myself using it as is applicable, however people use and don’t use the over system depending on the situation.

- During the podcast it was mentioned that cover will be fully destructible

What’s the most difficult part of making a SOCOM game that supposed to appeal to a broader audience while appealing to longtime hardcore fans?

When looking at a SOCOM game we certainly do not want to move away from what the core tenants of the game are. With SOCOM it has always been about the team and it’s authenticity. We want to make a game that can appeal to as many people as possible, does that mean we’re dumbing the game down for the less intelligent or less skilled, I don’t necessarily think so. People don’t want a water-downed experience in general.

Have the SOCOM 4 controls changed since E3 2010?

Our focus is for the controls to work in the most refined mode possible, so yes there has been a lot of refinement that has gone into the controls since E3.

What differences can we expect for the map “Abandoned” compared to the original version of the map?

I can’t go into too many specifics with that. I can say that it will be graphically updated. A lot of the focus will be on the cosmetics of the map to look better for the PS3. There might be some minor differences but nothing that makes it play completely different from the map in the other titles.